05 January 2011

My Acne History + Roaccutane experience

Hey girls! So it's Wednesday today, let's call this a 'Warm Wednesday' post LOL (I'm so lame). Let's get a little bit more warm and cozy hahah. SO, you're gonna ask "How?". Alright, I'll start off with telling you about my acne history.

Hahaha, okay, excuse me for the horrible joke.

Okay, so I just wanted to be a little bit more open today.

I know there are many people who suffer from acne during their teenage years and I understand that it can pull down your self-esteem and cause you to be more self conscious. The reason why I wanted to do a post about this is because, I looked in the mirror today and noticed that my acne has completely gone away, though I'm left with thousand of red scars which still makes me feel hella horrible.

I remember years ago, in 8th grade, when I looked in the mirror, my entire forehead was covered with cystic pimples, and my cheeks were just horrible. But I didn't care at all. I was so careless then.. I don't even know why I never cared about my skin.

From 8th grade till 10th grade, I was told lots of remedies of how to cure your acne, such as scrubbing your face with lemon juice... and using a bunch of other stuff on your face such as methylated spirits (?!). But that didn't help at all! And then I went on and followed Bubzbeauty religiously and tried her home-made masks tutorials. Unfortunately, as much as I love her, the masks just didn't do anything for me.

And then, I went on and tried the famous famous Pro-Activ which costed me $90 (?), but unfortunately, it did jack for my skin. Lucky they allowed us a 90-days refund if it didn't work and I returned mine back on the very last day. If you ask me what did Pro-Activ do for my skin, I couldn't remember, but I just know that the solutions and toners didn't work for me at all. My skin conditions stood the same. So that's my experience with Pro-Activ. However, I have two friends who tried Pro-Activ and it worked wonders for them. So if you'd really want to try, do some more research and decide! Who knows.. I might be one of the minorities.

After that, I really wanted to try Chinese herbal medicine (I think that's what it's called), however, my mumma never had time to cook the medicine for me, so I never had a chance to try it either.

Hmmmm.... what else is there?

After trying things that didn't work, I don't know why but I started drinking lots of water. And I mean. ALOT! I would drink 2 bottles at school and lots of water at home too [daily]. It was great because eventually my acne went away half-way thru 11th grade. To add to this, my skin cleared up SO wonderfully and I was SO happy.

If you never had acne, you would never understand how WE feel. The feeling that people walk pass ya and look at ya as if you're somewhat abnormal was horrible. And when people talk to you, they'd look at your pimples instead of looking into your eyes! It's like they're talking to my pimples instead! It was the most horrible experience.

Well, my clear skin lasted for a short time, until I started breaking out again at the end of 11th grade. I continued to break out from November 2009 till maybe July 2010?

And that's when I passed many more experiences. I remember walking around in Casula with my mum and there was this Vietnamese couple who walked pass us. And then suddenly, the lady ran to us and tapped us on the shoulder. And kindly suggested that I should go and check out this doctor who would be able to help me ALOT with my skin problems. It was very kind of them, however, it wasn't great knowing that other people probably thought the same. I mean, they walked pass and noticed my face full of pimples, then that would go for every other person too right? How embarrassing for me, at the time.

I also remember EVERY single time I was to go shopping with my mum and when she bumps into someone she knows, ALL the ladies would greet her first and then turn to me, look at me, and say "Gosh, my does your daughter's face have so much pimples?".

You don't know how HORRIBLE it was, to be there, out in an Asian community, and have someone saying that about you, and other people who walks pass, overhears it and gives you the strangest looks. To make it worse, you know our Asian parents talk as if they're screaming, so... have you pictured it yet?

Anyways, my face right now, isn't breaking out anymore. I stay up till 3am these days and my skin doesn't break out. I no longer have big cystic pimples, even when my 'time of the month' strikes.

How did I do it? I'm here to tell you today :)

A good guy-friend of mine have always kindly suggest that I should go and see a dermatologist, and this was ever since May 2010. He described to me what it was like and also mentioned that they will send you to go get a blood test. As soon as I heard 'blood test', I immediately refused to go. I was scared of having blood tests, just because my sister always come home with BIG bruises after blood tests. It looked too horrible and too painful. I'm sorry but I cannot!

And then it was probably around August 2010 that my cousin decided to take me to a dermatologist (I didn't know it was dermatologist) until I got there. And booking the appointment already, I had to go.

The progess

You'll need to go and see your GP (family doctor) and have them refer you to a dermatologist. I'm pretty sure that you cannot go to a dermatologist, yourself. You will need to be referred.

Costs

The first time I went, it cost me $150 and they gave me a receipt which could be claimed back at Medicare! And when I went to claim, I received a $60 refund, which meant the appointment only costed $70. I'm sorry if I got the pricing wrong, but I shouldn't be too much off.

However, times after that, each time would cost me $75 and I would be able to claim around $30 back from Medicare. So it was great. It was cheap and all to see a dermatologist. I thought it would cost me a fortune, but thank god!

My dermatologist prescribed me Roaccutane 20mgs and Clindatech Solution. I was told to take Roaccutane twice a day, one capsule in the morning and one at night. And Clindatech Solution must be applied on a cleansed face in the morning and night.

The experience with Roaccutane

I'm still on Roacc. but I can tell you that, the first two months or perhaps, the first month I was on Roaccutane religiously, my skin was SO dry! It wasn't normally dry, it was VERY VERY VERY VERY DRY! Sigh I cannot put a strong enough emphasis on how dry my skin was.

OKAY, LOOK AT THE FIRST PICTURE! That is what my skin would look like AFTER mosturizing! My skin before moisturizing would be ten times drier! Dry to the point where it flakes and all! I would be applying moisturizer at school so many times a day!

To make things worse, my lips were as dry was my skin! And I would always have a lip balm with me which never helped! This is where my fave lip balm kicks in hehehehe! During this time, I have tried Softlips and Nivea lip balms, however, both never worked. And my cousin gave me her lip balm which she said was her favourite! It was Blistex Lip Conditioner and it's GREAT! I always carry this lip balm around with me. It's inexpensive and available locally at most pharmacies.

NOTE: When you first take Roaccutane, I would say for the first one or two weeks, you would BREAK out like NO tomorrow. But that's the process of how it works. It would break you out FIRST and then start to clear up. So if you're deciding to go on Roaccutane, don't threat if this happens!

And also, there were times when I ran out of capsules and never bothered to buy more.. my skin started to break out again. Just a little bit though! So do remember to buy it when you've ran out! Don't be silly like me :P

Off to Clindatech...

Clindatech is an acne solution gel. I will describe to you this in a more detailed post when I do a review. I'm just gonna go through it very briefly now though...

I'm really unsure whether Clindatech has contributed to the dryness of my skin, but one thing for certain is that after applying it on at night, when I wake up, there would be no more redness within my skin. Because I've used this together with Roaccutane, I'm really unsure if this has helped me with any skin conditions. I just know that my skin would sting ALOT and BURN when I applied this!

So lastly...

I do recommend you that you should see a dermatologist ASAP if you're suffering from acne. I prefer to spend my money on something that's been proven by science than home remedies and stuff!

Please leave me a question in the comment below if you have any!

Till next time, please remember to have safe days and drink lots of water!

6 comments
:

wow!! Thank you so much for sharing your experience.. Seriously I also having acne problem..I'm currently using Dermedex and my skin look better compare to my skin before I'm using it..Still have scars and acne but at least it reduce my redness and pimples..Gosh..I hate pimples.. I wish I had clear and flawless skin.. I'm tired of searching for the right cleanser and solution for our acne..

Hi hun! :) No worries! Alot of people who has had suffered from acne (my friends) and doctors recommend that I get the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser (the bottle with the pump). What the doctor also recommend is the Cetaphil Gentle Cleansing Bar which is like a soap bar, but it's specially for face washes :)

It's sweet of you to share ur stories, because i can totally relate, especially the asians talking about it part! As if having acne itself isn't already bad, having people look "down on you" doesn't exactly make it any better.

I've suffered thru acne all my life, and i still do. My doctor actually told me to go on birth control and that got rid of the bad ones, but now i have another form of acne where it's just under the skin and it won't go away. It's JUST AS BAD, if you ask me.

I've tried so many times as well, but it seems like nothing works, or it works but it doesn't get rid of it completely!

Anyways, i'm so glad and happy for you that you've found your "cure." i've always wanted to go to a derm to, but i thought it'd be really expensive. It doesn't sound so bad now. I never knew u would need a blood test??! LOL ANYWAYS, i hope that your skin will slowly stop flaking! Thaat is the worst feeling ever - I KNOW!

aw honey yuo're so courageous to come out with this <3i can imagine the experience when you walk around, especially with asians. *sigh

but thanks for putting up this post, i have a cousin who most likely has the exact same condition as you, and i've heard of the campsie dermotologist or lidcombe one. im leaning towards the lidcombe one only because my other cousin recommended it more but yeah we'll see aye.

If you have really bad acne I also suggest you should see a doctor. Part of the problem with dermatologists though is that they prescribe really harsh medicine. I was prescribed topical lotions that made my skin flake off. Of course then I would pick at it which would make it worse. What's been working for me is using a gentle cleanser such as Cetaphil. Then I put on some gel by Neutrogena. After that I moisturize my skin. Once a week I use a gentle peel and a face mask. Sometimes being to harsh on your acne can make it worse so it's a good idea to not use to many products on it as it may dry out your skin. When your skin gets dried out it produces more oil which causes more acne.

If you use acne medications make sure you use sun tan lotion as it makes your skin more sensitive to the sun.

I went to beauty school a few years ago so I learned quite a few things that have really helped me. If you have any questions feel free to ask me. :D

This was a great post! I'm also Asian and have suffered with acne - I completely empathise with what you were saying about how it makes you feel. I was on Proactiv for about 4 years in total and it never cleared up my skin completely. I'm now drinking water heaps and on Cosmedix products - they were recommended to me by a skin specialist and they seem to be working quite well. The Clarisonic facial brush is also great and helps to deep cleanse your face so it gets rid of bacteria.

Glad you are acne free now! Haven't tried roaccutane but I'm glad it's worked for you :)